A week to remember... or not

I believe it will be a miracle if Jack can survive having parents like Dave and I.

Don't get me wrong, we are very careful with our baby and shower him with love around the clock. However, this week has seen many, MANY low points to his sweet little life. For posterity sake, here's what happened:

Tuesday, April 3rd

While I was cleaning up Jack's dinner in the kitchen, Dave was getting Jack ready for bed in his room. It's no secret that our little boy is a bit squirmy (he's been doing that since he was in the womb). While Dave worked to get a cloth wipe ready to change his diaper, Jack squirmed himself to the top edge of his changing table (an Ikea dresser with a changing pad on top) and even though Dave was literally standing right there, he couldn't stop the split second when Jack flung his legs up and launched himself right off the top of the table onto his poor little head.

Oh the screaming!

It's the worst feeling in the world to see your baby hurting and not be able to fix it. Jack cried for a good 45 minutes. Whenever he would calm down at all and we would try and change positions or move him in any way, he would rev up again. We eventually decided to take him to Urgent Care, just in case. After putting him through more poking and prodding and x-rays (maybe even worse than the initial fall because he screamed and screamed and I had to wait outside the room in case I was pregnant), we were given the news that he was a-ok.

The next day, he was pretty sore in his ribs but ended up bouncing right back.

Thursday, April 5th

Dave and my 4th anniversary. We had such a wonderful day starting with breakfast at Martha Greens (a great, eclectic restaurant in Redlands). Jack took a huge nap in the morning which gave Dave and I plenty of time to exchange gifts. Dave felt that this anniversary was also his opportunity to thank me for supporting him through medical school. He went WAY overboard in the gifting department. Dave loves to follow the traditional anniversary gift list. This year, it was linen or silk. So what does a hands on, creative type do, he makes his wife a skirt of course...without a pattern! That's right, Dave sewed me a beautiful linen skirt. It fits perfectly and looks great. :) In the evening, we left Jack with our dear friends, Danny and Meg, and went out to dinner and then to a hip new ice cream joint called a la Minute where they make ice cream to order with liquid nitrogen. When we got back from our date, Danny and Meg had just set up a game of Settlers of Catan so we all played a round. It was pretty much the most perfect day until...

that night Jack slept all the way through the night. I mean...not one nursing. This was a first and when I woke up, I was so excited! I had gotten a great night of sleep and I figured we were entering a new era. Unfortunately, my great night of sleep was only because our monitor has started to turn itself down ever so slightly through the night and that night, turned itself too low to hear Jack.

When I made it to his room in the morning, oh the horror, he had thrown up in the night and had to lay there in it. His eyelashes were wet from crying and I must say, it was my lowest point as a Mom. My job is to protect and care for him, and here he was in misery having been "ignored". Argh.

Saturday, April 7th

It's no secret that Easter is my very favorite holiday of the year. Christmas is only special (celebrating Christ's birth) because of what happened on Easter (his outrageous victory over the grave). I'm so grateful to my parents for always making Easter a BIG deal when I was growing up. I think every Christian family should really do it up in celebration. One of the traditions that Dave and I have made since being married is hosting a sunrise service with our friends up in the Loma Linda hills and then a follow up brunch at our little place.

This year was the 4th annual sunrise service and brunch and we were excited. I had spent the whole week gathering ingredients and Saturday, I spent most of the day deep cleaning the house in preparation for company. As I fed Jack his dinner around 6 pm, though, I began to feel a bit ill. By 7, I was in bed feeling terrible and Dave was sent to the kitchen to begin all of the food prep. He got half way through making a batch of lemon cupcakes before he too felt ill. By about 8 pm, we were both as sick as dogs shivering and then taking turns throwing up and having diarrhea. That's right...FOOD POISONING.

Somehow, I pulled it together long enough to cancel our Easter festivities (tear). Thus commenced the worst night EVER. We didn't sleep at all and the absolute worst part was when Jack woke up to nurse and I pulled myself together enough to stumble to his room. I could barely even lift him from the crib and when I went to nurse him.... no milk. None, nadda, zip. Graciously, he fell asleep anyway and I put him back down. Within a half hour though, he was up again as hungry as ever. Dave, bless his heart, proceeded to get up and attempt to give him bottle after bottle first of formula (nope), then water (no way), then frozen breast milk (yuck). Poor baby wouldn't have any of that.

Dave stopped throwing up somewhere around 4 am, but I just kept on all the way until the afternoon on Sunday. We missed our 4th annual Easter festivities, missed worship at our church, I didn't get to wear the skirt that Dave made me, and that splurge I made on a stellar Easter outfit for Jack, un-necessary. What a terrible day!

The good news is that this too shall pass.

Our friends Aimee and Juan took Jack out for a walk in the late afternoon which gave Dave and I a chance to rest. By about 8pm on Sunday, we were beginning to feel ever so slightly better. We gave each other massages (nothing better after being sick) and took Epsom salt baths. A chicken soup dinner (thanks Meg!) later and we were feeling much better. I nursed Jack at 11:30pm and voila...milk was back!

This morning, I woke up feeling as good as new. Yesterday, I felt so terrible that I honestly wondered if I would ever recover. So why in the world would I document such a terrible week? Isn't it better to keep your parenting mistakes and bodily functions off of such a public and permanent record? Perhaps. But, I for one want to look back on this week and be able to say, "Oh good grief...remember when that happened?" And also to realize that we, including Jack, are stronger than we think. We will survive.